Being paid below minimum wage?

caronc

TELLIT01 wrote: »

No tax credits involved so that isn't an issue for them. As for official hours and what the contract says - she has never been given a contract in all the time she's worked for them.
Just as one example of the way they are treated, the vehicle they used broke down, fortunately after the last child had been dropped home, and she was told she had to stay with the vehicle until recovery arrived. That was 3 hours later and the company gave her and the driver £10 each for the inconvenience!

Definitely sounds like a dodgy employer:(

Tigsteroonie

TELLIT01 wrote: »

She has a calendar showing the dates she doesn't work. She definitely only has 11 weeks non-working, give or take a day or so. The school is a dedicated special needs one so I don't know if that affects the opening periods. These are seriously disabled kids.

caronc wrote: »

State delivered special needs schools do tend to operate for the same number of days as other state schools mainly due to the teachers' contracts so 41 weeks is odd.

My son's SEN school provides two weeks of "summer camp" during the long summer break - it may not be the teachers themselves, it could be a local group using the school as a facility. Because the children have to be put forward for this through the council's Short Break service, it's possible that escorted transport is provided for those additional two weeks as they certainly do provide transport to respite. The OP's friend's school may have a similar summer scheme increasing the number of weeks.

hyubh

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Paid monthly and it is a state school.

TELLIT01 wrote: »

As for official hours and what the contract says - she has never been given a contract in all the time she's worked for them.

TELLIT01 wrote: »

I hadn't even considered pension contribution, but there is nothing on the payslip about pension contribution, either hers or employers. The employer is so utterly incompetent at paying staff on time I can't believe they have instituted the required pension scheme.

Edited to add: She earns under £10k per year so isn't eligible for the workplace pension scheme.

All state schools (including free schools and academies, not just council maintained schools) are statutory employers of the LGPS for their support staff (1/49 career average defined benefit). If her contract of employment was for more than three months, she should have been auto-enrolled into the scheme from day 1, and if it wasn't, then once she passed three months (level of pay doesn't come into it).

Correcting this error will ultimately be far more valuable than a few extra pence per hour. There will be a cost - the employee contribution rate is 5.5% for low paid staff - but the benefit earned would be way beyond the equivalent amount put into Nest or something like that.

TELLIT01

hyubh, she isn't employed by the school, she's employed by the company who supply the transport.

TyreLever

caronc wrote: »

Definitely sounds like a dodgy employer:(

Wouldn't think too highly of them even if they paid the minimum wage. Employers who pay £7.50 per hour only do so because it is illegal to pay people even less. That cant be a good thing.

getmore4less

Until the facts are obtained and provided further speculation is a bit pointless.

Comms69

TyreLever wrote: »

Wouldn't think too highly of them even if they paid the minimum wage. Employers who pay £7.50 per hour only do so because it is illegal to pay people even less. That cant be a good thing.

The minimum wage isn't a 'good thing'. It just leaves the state to in essence prop up private businesses.